Okay so I love Giant Bomb. And I usually agree with the things they have to say about  games. But the flak they are giving to Dragon Age 2 perplexes me. I will not lie, yes the game does use the same damn layouts over and over again and it can be a bit taxing. But, I disliked how they got on Vinny about playing it. It kinda seems as if they have already made an opinion based on what they have read and heard from other people rather then actually playing the game.
    I understand that Bioware wanted the game to take place in Kirkwall exclusively, so that the player feels a connection to the city. But I can feel connected with out being reminded that, they were just being lazy by reusing the same dungeons. I mean really how many damn apostate mages do I have to find in the same caves on the Wounded Coast?
    The threat from the Qunari is something that rally’s the city a bit, just to be torn apart by the constant battle struggle of the Templar’s and the mages. They way it allows you to deal with your personal family problems and integrate them with the struggles of the city of Kirkwall, makes it hard for you to not care about the city. You are part of it and it is part of you
    What I love are the characters. They are some of the most well written I have ever seen in a game. But I would expect no less from Bioware. Everyone has there fav, mine is Fenris. If he were real I would do inappropriate things to him. All Angst ridden, broody, and angry. And the more you learn about him the more you realize why. His hate for mages makes for an interesting contrast if you play as a one. He is intriguing He speaks about 4 languages yet… He can’t read. Who teaches a slave to read?
    Then there is Anders. He is struggling with the sprit of Justce inside of him. This makes his character very complex. Lets just say every revolution need s a catalyst and Anders is the catalyst. A renegade mage, who has had about enough of those fucking Templar’s. He’s just trying to live a low key life as a refugee in Darktown. Also, He is one hell of a healer.
    The whole game is framed by a story that a kick-ass dwarf named Varric is telling.  Who is trying to deal with the merchant guild and family business and a brother who is a dick. Varric a crossbow welding beardless dwarf who is quick to have a snarky one liner. Usually followed by another joke from the pirate Isabella. Who I can say is 80 percent sex. She will essentially fuck anything that moves and is proud of it. Also she doesn’t ware pant. Just a tunic and a sash, oh and thigh high boots. I guess she thought if her boots go up to her thighs then why the hell bother with pants.
    Merrill is an elf and has an adorable Welsh accent. She’s voiced by an actress name Eve Myles. who is in the show Torchwood. She is sweet and innocent… oh and a blood mage. She’s trying to grapple with the fact that the dalish elves are using there heritage by human encroachments. Aveline is your ace boon coon (best friend) is a fierce protector who is always looking out for you. One of my fav quest in the game is one in which the whole purpose is to get her laid. The banter in that quest is wonderful.
    I love the game. I know that it has flaws, but I have beat if six times. Once as each class and while each class, romancing either Anders or Fenris. And I will defend it.

 Okay so I love Giant Bomb. And I usually agree with the things they have to say about  games. But the flak they are giving to Dragon Age 2 perplexes me. I will not lie, yes the game does use the same damn layouts over and over again and it can be a bit taxing. But, I disliked how they got on Vinny about playing it. It kinda seems as if they have already made an opinion based on what they have read and heard from other people rather then actually playing the game.
    I understand that Bioware wanted the game to take place in Kirkwall exclusively, so that the player feels a connection to the city. But I can feel connected with out being reminded that, they were just being lazy by reusing the same dungeons. I mean really how many damn apostate mages do I have to find in the same caves on the Wounded Coast?
    The threat from the Qunari is something that rally’s the city a bit, just to be torn apart by the constant battle struggle of the Templar’s and the mages. They way it allows you to deal with your personal family problems and integrate them with the struggles of the city of Kirkwall, makes it hard for you to not care about the city. You are part of it and it is part of you
    What I love are the characters. They are some of the most well written I have ever seen in a game. But I would expect no less from Bioware. Everyone has there fav, mine is Fenris. If he were real I would do inappropriate things to him. All Angst ridden, broody, and angry. And the more you learn about him the more you realize why. His hate for mages makes for an interesting contrast if you play as a one. He is intriguing He speaks about 4 languages yet… He can’t read. Who teaches a slave to read?
    Then there is Anders. He is struggling with the sprit of Justce inside of him. This makes his character very complex. Lets just say every revolution need s a catalyst and Anders is the catalyst. A renegade mage, who has had about enough of those fucking Templar’s. He’s just trying to live a low key life as a refugee in Darktown. Also, He is one hell of a healer.
    The whole game is framed by a story that a kick-ass dwarf named Varric is telling.  Who is trying to deal with the merchant guild and family business and a brother who is a dick. Varric a crossbow welding beardless dwarf who is quick to have a snarky one liner. Usually followed by another joke from the pirate Isabella. Who I can say is 80 percent sex. She will essentially fuck anything that moves and is proud of it. Also she doesn’t ware pant. Just a tunic and a sash, oh and thigh high boots. I guess she thought if her boots go up to her thighs then why the hell bother with pants.
    Merrill is an elf and has an adorable Welsh accent. She’s voiced by an actress name Eve Myles. who is in the show Torchwood. She is sweet and innocent… oh and a blood mage. She’s trying to grapple with the fact that the dalish elves are using there heritage by human encroachments. Aveline is your ace boon coon (best friend) is a fierce protector who is always looking out for you. One of my fav quest in the game is one in which the whole purpose is to get her laid. The banter in that quest is wonderful.
    I love the game. I know that it has flaws, but I have beat if six times. Once as each class and while each class, romancing either Anders or Fenris. And I will defend it.

I really like DA2, and I don't get why people hate on it so much. Its problems are mostly in structure, and it is one of the weaker BioWare games of the past few years, but it is undoubtedly a great action RPG. Its problems aren't nearly enough to make it as bad as people say it is, and I think the combat is much better than the last game's, especially on consoles.

Woah, indentation. That's not something you normally see in forum posts. Feels weird.

I think the problem comes from the perception people had about Bioware being such a top tier developer. They want every game to reflect that. DA2, while not a bad, had short dev cycle and seemed intended as a B-grade production. It's something a lot of studios will do, but since people held Bioware to a higher standard, it became easier to see what faults there were. The issue was with expectation management as much as it was with the game itself.

Shit, I didn't know that was Eve Myles but I totally hear it now. I love how they gave all the Dalish welsh accents in the sequel, where they had none in the first.

It has a great deal of problems, but in all honesty, it's currently tied with Portal 2 for my favourite game so far this year.

First off, toss up a spoiler warning. Anyways, the characters are not too bad, they didn't really grow on me that much. Varric is cool with telling stories though. Great voice acting. As for the main plot, didn't care for it all. I didn't care about the Qunari problem, mainly because I was distracted by how disjointed the whole story was. No sense at all of any time lapse throughout that game. As for Anders, my respect for him shattered once he did that one thing towards the end of the game, you know the one. Some "justice" spirit he has that he somehow thinks doing that one thing is the only option. I only saw that event as a desperate move to continue the story further to the end. The awesome combat was the only thing that kept me coming back to that game.

It's a good game, just not as good as the first in terms of characters and world exploration.   It has a stigma of being a horrible game but it's really not.   My biggest beef was lack of environments and the NPC equipment screen which was stripped down to unnecessary levels.    Otherwise it's a really good game.      

It isnt a horrible game, BUT when compared to the first game when related to story, combat, leveling and exploration it is far far behind. 

" Woah, indentation. That's not something you normally see in forum posts

I agree, to a point. I really loved the game, but at the same time I expected more from Bioware. The reuse of environments is borderline offensive. Still, that said, it is definitely the best game I have played this year, maybe tied with Portal 2. But if I had to pick one it would be Dragon Age 2, based solely on characters and story.